I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 135: Good Things Hidden in Weihaiwei

The speedboat departed from Dengzhou Port and had a smooth journey, arriving at Weihai Port before sunset.

This place became the main base of the North Sea Navy, with ships coming and going frequently, masts like forests and sails like feathers in the port area.

From a distance, the port land looked very busy with construction.

The speedboat docked and Prime Minister Lu was waiting.

Lu Xiang was in his thirties. As he had been at sea for many years, his skin was dark and his appearance was haggard, making him look like he was in his forties.

He was resolute and brave, and his appearance and figure were about 60% similar to Lu Tan.

"Envoy Xue, Deputy Envoy Chen, I am here to greet you on the orders of the Navy Bureau."

"Commander Lu, you are too polite. This time, we will rely entirely on Commander Lu for the survey and mapping mission." Xue Yi replied with a bow.

"Lu dare not slack off in his duties."

"How is Mr. Beishan?"

When Xue Yi asked about his father, Lu Lian hurriedly bowed and replied, "You are too polite, Envoy Xue. My father is in good health. Unfortunately, he is leading the Weihai Battalion to inspect Liaodong and Korea."

"What a pity. The last time Mr. Beishan came to Beijing to report on his work, I met him at the Supervisory Office. I admired him very much. I thought I could meet him again this time and listen to his teachings."

"Envoy Xue is very polite."

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Lu Xiang took Xue Yi, Chen Keyan and others back to the inn to eat and rest.

The next morning, Lu Xiang brought Xue Yi and Chen Keyan to the military camp.

"Envoy Xue, Deputy Envoy Chen, this is the Marine Battalion's barracks."

Teams of soldiers were training in formation, sword and shield fighters, spearmen, the Mandarin Duck Formation, the Three Talents Formation, the sounds of killing were deafening.

Xue Yi suddenly remembered something and couldn't help asking Prime Minister Lu: "Your Highness the Crown Prince has been complaining that the organization of the Ming Dynasty's official army is chaotic, and the guards are divided into small flags, general flags, hundred households, and thousand households.

The border troops had their own organization. During the Yongle period, the organization was roughly the same. After the Zhengtong period, the organization was changed so much that it became a mess. The organization of Xuanda Town was different from that of Liaodong Town, and that of Shanxi Town was different from that of Ningxia Town.

Later, General Yuan Jing trained new soldiers to fight against the Japanese pirates, formed a marine battalion, and set up the organization of teams, flags, divisions, bureaus, and battalions, making things even more chaotic.

This time, Dai Chuan is appointed as the Minister of War, in charge of the Naval Bureau, and assisting in the Beijing Camp Military Administration Supervisory Office. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince hopes that he can help to unify the organization of our Ming Dynasty's officers and soldiers.

I heard that Lord Daichuan wants to use the Marine Battalion as a pilot to streamline the unified organization. Commander Lu, has your unit started the pilot? "

Prime Minister Lu glanced at Xue Yi, nodded and replied: "The Marine Battalion of the Beihai Navy is where Lord Daichuan first conducted the pilot project."

"Can you explain it to me?"

"No problem." Lu Xiang said happily, "The organization of the Marine Corps is actually the rules set by General Qi for training new soldiers. It is based on the Mandarin Duck Formation, with twelve to fifteen people in each team.

Duke Daichuan, after considering the actual combat situation in the new military camp, discussed with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and decided on a new organization of twelve to fifteen people per squad, three squads per sentry, three sentries per team, four teams per battalion, and three battalions per reserve.

His Royal Highness changed the names a little, changing the "shi" to "ban", the "sentry" to "platoon", and the "reserve" to "regiment". Twelve to fifteen people make a squad, three squads make a platoon, three platoons make a team, four teams make a battalion, and three battalions make a regiment. "

Xue Yi nodded, "What Commander Lu said is similar to what you have changed in the new military camp. The new military camp is organized into infantry regiments, cavalry regiments and artillery regiments. The infantry regiment is organized like your marine battalion. There is still debate about how many musketeers, spearmen and sword and shieldmen should be in the four teams. However, it is currently decided to have two teams of sword and shieldmen, one team of spearmen and one team of musketeers.

Each cavalry regiment has three battalions, each with four teams, including one submachine gun team. Each artillery regiment has three battalions, each with four teams, including one 9-jin heavy artillery team, two 6-jin field artillery teams, and one submachine gun and mortar team.

Prime Minister Lu pondered for a moment, "Your Highness, what do you mean by that the new army should use more artillery and muskets in the future?"

Xue Yi looked around and saw that they were all his trusted people, so he said softly: "Eunuch Yang from the Southeast Office spent a lot of money last year to buy 15 excellent fire guns from Rumi (Turkey) from sea merchants. They are very sharp and can shoot farther than the Portuguese, Eastern Japanese fire guns and our own bird guns.

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince ordered the Firearms Bureau to imitate it, and at the beginning of the year thirty guns were produced. They were of very high quality, and with the improved gunpowder formula, they could shoot farther than the Rumi gun.

His Highness has drawn a sketch by hand, changing the matchlock trigger to a flint trigger, but the Firearms Supervisor is stumbling over it, and is currently working on the improvement. Once the flint gun is successfully improved, it will be more powerful and simple, and will be a powerful weapon for the Ming Dynasty to defeat the invaders and barbarians."

Prime Minister Lu was overjoyed. "Since the 41st year of Jiajing, when His Royal Highness the Grandson secretly took over the task of suppressing the Japanese, the firearms of our Ming Dynasty have made rapid progress. If the fire gun can be as good as Envoy Xue said, it will be a new weapon.

The most profound experience of our navy was in the artillery. By introducing Western technicians and encouraging Ming craftsmen to contribute their skills and ideas, our artillery became better and better. The wall of the artillery became thinner, and the caliber of the artillery of the same weight became larger, and the shells fired were heavier and more powerful.

I heard that the Gunnery Supervisor is testing 24-jin and 32-jin cannons for our navy, and also equipped them with four-wheeled sports cars and rope resets. I am really looking forward to it. With such cannons installed on our new seagoing ships, who in the world can be the opponent?
The heyday of the Sanbao Navy during the Yongle period, when it was invincible, will be recreated in our hands!"

Everyone fantasized about the future and couldn't help but feel excited.

Lu Xiang was so excited that he simply pulled Xue Yi and others to the hill behind the port.

This is a strategic defensive location with three gun positions currently under construction.

"This place is strategically located and is an important place for guarding Weihai Port. The Beihai Navy Admiralty Office has arranged three gun positions here, equipped with six 72-jin cannons."

"A 72-jin cannon?" Chen Keyan was shocked. "Wow, a cannon this big?"

Prime Minister Lu replied, "Yes, these are cannons specially used to guard the fortress. The entire cannon weighs 15,000 kilograms and is made of 150 materials. It will take half a year just to transport these six cannons from Kaiping and then tow them up."

"Fifteen thousand jin?" Chen Keyan remembered what Lu Xiang had just said, and couldn't help asking, "Commander Lu, you just said that the Firearms Bureau wants to cast a thirty-two-jin cannon for your navy. A seventy-two-jin cannon has one hundred and fifty materials, and a thirty-two-jin cannon must have at least eighty materials, how can it be loaded?"

Prime Minister Lu laughed: "Deputy Envoy Chen doesn't know. The cannons in this fortress are actually the same as the field cannons used by the Lu Division. They are long cannons with long barrels, so they can shoot far.

The naval guns used by our navy are different from the long guns. In a sea battle, the waves are turbulent, and if you are more than 250 steps away, you basically can't shoot accurately. So when two ships are fighting, they are basically within 200 steps. Naval guns don't need to shoot far, they just need to shoot hard.

The 32-jin naval guns used by our navy have the same barrel length as the 24-jin and 12-jin naval guns, which are all about 8 feet 5 inches. They are just different in muzzle size and weight.

The sample gun from the Firearms Supervision is a 32-jin naval gun, and the barrel weighs about 5,000 jin. Of course, such a heavy gun cannot be used on a 4,000-jin ship."

Lu Xiang pointed to a dozen ships moored at the port dock.

"Those sea vessels are the main ships for our survey and mapping this time. Such ships, equipped with 32-jin naval guns, are like turtles carrying elephants."

Everyone looked up for a while.

Chen Keyan, who had sailed more than a dozen times and had some experience in the southeast, asked: "This ship is interesting. It is a bit like a Portuguese ship, a Fujian ship, and a Guangdong ship."

Lu Xiang smiled and said, "Deputy Envoy Chen has a sharp eye. This is a new ship recently built by Wusong Shipyard. It absorbs the advantages of Portuguese ships, Fujian ships and Guangzhou ships. It can carry a lot, runs fast and is not expensive. Merchants like it very much. They use it to travel on the short sea trade routes from Liaodong, Korea, Japan to Shanghai, and from Shanghai to Guangzhou, Annan and Champa.

Our Sanhai Navy also purchased a batch of them, which are the main vessels of each battalion."

Xue Yi looked at these strange boats with duck-like butts and said, "Oh, please let Commander Lu explain it to us."

(End of this chapter)